This makes it sound like you can get Gold Preferred Status by just calling in.

I believe that is only for AMEX Platinum card holders, not starwood card holders.

josecuervo

Member

posted: Sep. 21, 2006 @ 4:34p

wooben said: $30k spending/year on the card gets you Gold Preferred Status now. This is good, and is a long time coming. Now if only they'd add a spending tier that provided Plat (though I'm sure the Plats would complain about dilution of status).

That is excellent news. I wonder when it becomes effective. I am well over 30k spent already in 2006.

My bill says it will be effective sometime around March 07 for calender year 06 spending, and 12-16 weeks after u hit 30k anytime after that.

loganj

Member

posted: Sep. 21, 2006 @ 8:12p

dewolfxy said: citygirl212 said: Can anybody share, from their experience, the process for redeeming points for mileage? I haven't seen this mentioned before, but how long exactly did it take for your points to transfer? I've read that it takes a long time, but haven't seen anyone mention it in detail. Was this process pretty simple or a pain? Thanks

Delta - instant (< 5 min)Continental - a few days, not sure exactly how long. Less than a week, I believe.

Confirm on Continental---just transfered miles from SPG to Continental and it was done in less than a week.

A bunch of you I know are fans of this card. Can you tell me if it's better than the mastercard version?

* Earn 1 Starpoint for every $2 spent on all your eligible purchases. * Activation Bonus†† — 5,000 Starpoints® after your first purchase on the card. * Starwood Hotel Stay Bonus†† — 5,000 Starpoints the first time you charge a stay at any Starwood hotel or resort to your Starwood Preferred Guest MasterCard. * Annual Bonuses†† — 5,000 Starpoints for every $10,000 you spend (up to 15,000 Starpoints each year). * No annual fee. * A credit line of up to $100,000. * Around-the-clock customer service and more!

oh, didn't know that. Also, the grace period for the AMEX card is 20 days. Does that mean I would need to pay before the "Due date" to get no interest? So I need to pay my bill more than once a month?I currently have "clear" and the grace period is 30-31 days depending on the month, so I am confused.

Beckles

Senior Member - 1K

posted: Sep. 26, 2006 @ 2:09p

cola262 said: oh, didn't know that. Also, the grace period for the AMEX card is 20 days. Does that mean I would need to pay before the "Due date" to get no interest? So I need to pay my bill more than once a month?I currently have "clear" and the grace period is 30-31 days depending on the month, so I am confused.Grace period is from the billing date.

paytonc

Member

posted: Sep. 27, 2006 @ 2:42a

Some notes:1. Redemption options - if it's available, Cash & Points can be a good option for scoring very cheap stays (especially off-season or suburban locations). For the cash portion of the stay, you'll earn Starpoints from AMEX, but not from Starwood; e.g., two instead of four Starpoints per dollar.

Also, no blackout days! If there's a room available, you can take it with points.

Keep in mind that Starwood (in the USA, principally Westin and Sheraton flags) currently has no budget properties and is very thin on the ground outside of major cities. They are opening new hotels very quickly, including launching three new brands: Aloft, Element, and a to-be-named midrange flag.

2. Targeted offers - sorry, almost all SPG credit card offers are targeted. However, check the Hotel Offers online frequently, as bonus Starpoints are often available there.

3. Value of points - if you value air miles at 1c, then a Starpoint is 1.25c. However, I aim for my Starpoint hotel stays to price out at 3-4c per Starpoint -- not bad for a general use card.

duna

Senior Member - 1K

posted: Sep. 27, 2006 @ 11:11a

Super helpful OP and great responses and info! Than you all.

catonis

Happy Member

posted: Oct. 4, 2006 @ 6:26p

I'd like to notify people that another thread has a new sign up bonus of 10K points.

http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/658516/

matuski

Member

posted: Oct. 5, 2006 @ 7:28a

catonis said: I'd like to notify people that another thread has a new sign up bonus of 10K points.

http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/658516/

I was going to hold out until January for this card... until I saw this!

Thanks. Instant approval, and best of all a CL WAY higher than my CL's combined on my other AMEX cards!

spidy

Senior Member

posted: Oct. 20, 2006 @ 11:03p

I am just concerned about the expiring of the points. Can you just convert the points to miles before they expire? or you have to stay in any hotel to be eligible to do that.

The concern I have is that if i do not end up staying anywhere during the whole year will my points expire?

lnair

Addicted Member

posted: Oct. 21, 2006 @ 2:11a

spidy said: I am just concerned about the expiring of the points. Can you just convert the points to miles before they expire? or you have to stay in any hotel to be eligible to do that.

The concern I have is that if i do not end up staying anywhere during the whole year will my points Points dont expire unless you have zero activity(either stay or spending)for an entire year. So as you swipe your card once in awhile you should be fine.</blockquote>

somdave2005

Senior Member

posted: Oct. 21, 2006 @ 4:17a

Hey guys I'm trying to decide whether to get the starwood card as I will be interviewing for fellowship this year and will be flying a lot. My question is it cheaper to get a flight through these miles programs vs buying a regular plane ticket from the CashBack rebate money on CashBack cards based on the same amount of spending?

Which one would be more valuable for purchasing a flight to, say, the Carribeans? The 50,000 points or the $500 dollars.

Thanks for your help

althes

Senior Member

posted: Oct. 21, 2006 @ 5:39a

definitely the airline miles.

JeffISU

Shopaholic Member

posted: Oct. 21, 2006 @ 7:09a

somdave2005 said: Hey guys I'm trying to decide whether to get the starwood card as I will be interviewing for fellowship this year and will be flying a lot. My question is it cheaper to get a flight through these miles programs vs buying a regular plane ticket from the CashBack rebate money on CashBack cards based on the same amount of spending?

Which one would be more valuable for purchasing a flight to, say, the Carribeans? The 50,000 points or the $500 dollars.

Thanks for your help

In this example, you'd actually get 60,000 starpoints, because for every 20,000 points you transfer you get a 5,000 bonus (1.25 miles/starpoint for most programs). Considering most international flights are more expensive than the $500 you'd earn with a CashBack card, the miles are a much better deal. Even for a domestic flight - spend $20k, get 20k starpoints, transfer into 25k miles, free RT ticket. Equivalent 1% Cash Back would be $200, again, probably less than the cost of a RT ticket. FareCompare is a great site with historical data on the costs of airline travel - they have graphs back two years with pricing data allowing you to make an informed decision about whether or not a fare you see is really a "good" deal.

JeffISU

Shopaholic Member

posted: Oct. 21, 2006 @ 7:17a

spidy said: I am just concerned about the expiring of the points. Can you just convert the points to miles before they expire? or you have to stay in any hotel to be eligible to do that.

The concern I have is that if i do not end up staying anywhere during the whole year will my points expire?

Your points will not expire when you're using this card, or earning starpoints by staying at a hotel (or dining at a restaurant on property) at least once every 12 months.

spidy

Senior Member

posted: Oct. 21, 2006 @ 10:34a

Applied for the card today through cardoffers and got instantly approved and will get $40 from card offers.

jelty

Member

posted: Oct. 26, 2006 @ 7:13p

I applied for starwood in July with the link of bonus 6k points after 1st purchase. But I called CSR to ask for those 6k points, he said they never have such a promotion. Unluckily, I didn't save that link for application. What could I do? BBB?

CapEx

Extraordinarily Ordinary

posted: Oct. 30, 2006 @ 4:47p

spidy said: Applied for the card today through cardoffers and got instantly approved and will get $40 from card offers.

Me too. I'm glad I found this thread. It has to be one of the best cards out there now.

didNOTsearch

Broke Member

posted: Oct. 30, 2006 @ 4:56p

richfish13 said: spidy said: Applied for the card today through cardoffers and got instantly approved and will get $40 from card offers.

Me too. I'm glad I found this thread. It has to be one of the best cards out there now.

of all the cards that I applied for in my recent AOR thru CardOffers, this was the ONLY one that did not post in their systems.

by chance do either of you remember how long after receiving your card did it take for CardOffers to post the credit to your account??

It's been over 4 weeks and still nothing.

jviken

Thrifty Member

posted: Oct. 31, 2006 @ 7:40p

My wife applied for this car and received it. When we activated it we got an offer of a one time only additional 2500 bonus SPG points to add a free additional user. We are optpmizing credit cards with dualing AORs and adding additional users so I was planning on doing this anyways. Just something to think about. When applying don't add an additional user, instead do it later, you might get the same offer.

MilesHeighway

Broke Member

posted: Oct. 31, 2006 @ 7:48p

didNOTsearch said: richfish13 said: spidy said: Applied for the card today through cardoffers and got instantly approved and will get $40 from card offers.

Me too. I'm glad I found this thread. It has to be one of the best cards out there now.

of all the cards that I applied for in my recent AOR thru CardOffers, this was the ONLY one that did not post in their systems.

by chance do either of you remember how long after receiving your card did it take for CardOffers to post the credit to your account??

It's been over 4 weeks and still nothing.Time to do a BankofGreed and call them. I applied for the card 3 weeks ago, got the card, the cardoffer bonus and the points (including the 2.5k for signing up an AU) already in my starwoods acccount.

akanga

Dismembered Member

posted: Nov. 4, 2006 @ 1:20a

I need some help here.

1.) I applied for the starwood card in sept. 06 offering the 10 000 pts in three step thru the starwood website. AMEX has refuse to offer me th pts unless in give them a copy of the offer from starwood. Did any one here print out the 10000pt fign on offer for sept.? I will be very grateful to get a copy.

2.) i just completed a series of stays at Sheraton using the card but got 1 pt / $$ spent at the hotel credited to my statement. How does the 2 pt/ $ stuff work? Do i need to call in?

Thanks

jairocon

Senior Member - 1K

posted: Nov. 4, 2006 @ 6:53a

akanga said: 1.) I applied for the starwood card in sept. 06 offering the 10 000 pts in three step thru the starwood website. AMEX has refuse to offer me th pts unless in give them a copy of the offer from starwood. Did any one here print out the 10000pt fign on offer for sept.? I will be very grateful to get a copy.I have a pdf of the 10k pts offer from 10/19 when my g/f applied for this card if that would help I can send that to you.

threeuncle

Member

posted: Nov. 8, 2006 @ 10:58a

It looks everyone can register SPG program. And then you can transfer reward points from other AMEX cards. Some other cards offer better reward program, e.g. AMEX gold currently has double reward points. So what's the point of getting/keeping starwood card?

threeuncle

Member

posted: Nov. 8, 2006 @ 11:02a

AyresFan said: FFGuru said: 3. Normally SPG accounts will expire if there is you are not an "active" member. SPG updated their T&C within the last year to indicate that earning points with the AMEX SPG card makes someone active. But if you cancel your AMEX SPG card, you need to keep your account active by earning points "as a result of activities at participating Starwood Properties" or use your points within a year from the last time you earned any. They are very strict about this.

I think I got the answer for the second question from another board already.

StartingMoney

Senior Member

posted: Nov. 9, 2006 @ 12:13a

threeuncle said: It looks everyone can register SPG program. And then you can transfer reward points from other AMEX cards. Some other cards offer better reward program, e.g. AMEX gold currently has double reward points. So what's the point of getting/keeping starwood card?

Because Membership Rewards points transfer to Starwood points at an awesome rate of 1000:333 . You'd have to earn 3x MR points to equal the regular earning of the Starwood card. Plus the Starwood card is A LOT cheaper than the Gold card. It's not all that useful to compare the two, as they're apples to oranges, but if earning miles/hotel points is your main goal, the Starwood card is usually better.

jairocon said: akanga said: 1.) I applied for the starwood card in sept. 06 offering the 10 000 pts in three step thru the starwood website. AMEX has refuse to offer me th pts unless in give them a copy of the offer from starwood. Did any one here print out the 10000pt fign on offer for sept.? I will be very grateful to get a copy.I have a pdf of the 10k pts offer from 10/19 when my g/f applied for this card if that would help I can send that to you.

My 10000 points posted the same day of my first statement, no hassle at all.

You can find the 10k point offer still at flyertalk.com.

jpmvc

Senior Member

posted: Nov. 12, 2006 @ 10:41p

Curious to know if anyone here chose the business card over ther personal one.

Card offers is paying $75 for business card and $40 for personal - was just making all considerations for my next AOR.

Thanks

charliek

Senior Member

posted: Nov. 14, 2006 @ 3:31p

Sweet.. just got this via email. Seems to be a targeted promotion. The RSVP code was included in the email. I use my Starwood AMEX as one of my normal-use cards.ENROLL NOW AND EARN DOUBLE STARPOINTS® ON ALL PURCHASES FROM NOVEMBER 15 - DECEMBER 15Enroll now and you will receive double Starpoints on all purchases made on your Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express between November 15 - December 15, 2006. For additional information, see terms and conditions below.

To be eligible for this promotion, you must enroll using your 14-digit RSVP code or if you are registered to manage your account online, your user ID and password.

TERMS AND CONDITIONSThis offer is non-transferable and good for solicited Cardmembers only. Only eligible charges made from November 15 - December 15, 2006 qualify. You normally earn 1 Starpoint for each eligible dollar charged with the Card for any purchase, and 2 Starpoints for each eligible dollar charged at Starwood-branded hotels and resorts then participating in the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program, and at standalone retail establishments and online stores that, in each case, are wholly owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. However, for each eligible dollar charged from November 15 - December 15, 2006, we will post 2 Starpoints to your Starwood Preferred Guest account. Eligible spending at Starwood hotels & resorts and select retail outlets including Bliss spa, Westin Store, The W Hotels Store, Sheraton Store, and Four Points by Sheraton Store will not earn additional points during the promotion. Bonus Starpoints earned as a part of this promotion are limited to 5,000 Starpoints for the promotional period and will post to your account 10-12 weeks after the end of the promotional period. Ineligible transactions include cash or cash equivalents, cash advances, Express Cash transactions, balance transfers, convenience checks, American Express® Travelers and Gift Cheques, fees, and finance charges. All Starwood Preferred Guest accounts are subject to the Starwood Preferred Guest program terms and conditions, which are subject to change without notice and can be found at www.spg.com. Starwood is not responsible for omissions and typographical errors. PREFERRED GUEST, STARPOINTS, Sheraton, W, FOUR POINTS, THE LUXURY COLLECTION, ST. REGIS, Westin, ALOFT, and LE MERIDIEN and their respective logos are the trademarks of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. or its affiliates. POID H529:0001

CapEx

Extraordinarily Ordinary

posted: Nov. 14, 2006 @ 3:40p

14-digit RSVP code or if you are registered to manage your account online, your user ID and password.

Do you have the link so I can try with my user ID to see if i'm eligible?

charliek

Senior Member

posted: Nov. 14, 2006 @ 3:56p

richfish13 said: 14-digit RSVP code or if you are registered to manage your account online, your user ID and password.

Do you have the link so I can try with my user ID to see if i'm eligible?

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